Sen. Kelli Stargel's Amended Alimony Bill Passes Fla. Senate

Sen. Kelli Stargel's bill changing the way alimony is decided and allowing a simpler method for changing alimony payments following a settlement passed the Florida Senate 29-11 on Thursday.

By BILL RUFTYLEDGER POLITICAL EDITOR

LAKELAND | Sen. Kelli Stargel's bill changing the way alimony is decided and allowing a simpler method for changing alimony payments following a settlement passed the Florida Senate 29-11 on Thursday.The bill was amended, with Stargel's approval, to take out some of the opposition to the bill and to make the limits on payments higher and more equitable, but it is different than the House bill. Her bill SB 718 now goes to the House to be approved, supporters say they hope, in its Senate version. The House has a different version waiting to go to the floor that opponents of both characterize as even harsher. House members have two options.They can take up the Senate version and pass it, in which case the bill would go to the governor to be signed into law.Or they could choose to amend its version on to the Senate bill and send it back to the upper chamber, which might cause some Senate votes in favor of Stargel's bill to drop off. Stargel, a Lakeland Republican, took on the bill this year after it passed the House handily last year but never moved in the Senate. She was able to get it passed through committees early and passed out of the Senate with half of the session to go."I agreed to sponsor this alimony reform legislation because I believe we need a fair way to deal with this very emotional issue," Stargel told The Ledger in an email Thursday after it passed. "Many agree that the current system is broken and is bad for families, especially those with children. This bill creates guidelines for our judges to follow, but maintains judicial discretion." "It does not affect child support or cases where the ex-spouse" is unable to become self-sufficient, Stargel told fellow senators on the floor.The bill makes the process of alimony settlements more fair to both sides, she said.Sen. Anitere Flores, R- Miami and a lawyer, added amendments that would make the bill more palatable to some senators who would vote for it if previous low limits on the size of alimony payments were increased.The bill, dubbed by some opponents as "anti-woman," still had some female senators speaking against it, especially in cases where women stayed home to raise their children."When people enter into a marriage they are investing in their lives together," said Sen. Geraldine Thompson, D-Orlando. "But because after a divorce is finalized, a person (under the Stargel bill) can then go back and change the contract is not fair."Sen. Eleanor Sobel, D-Hollywood, said the bill cuts the duration of alimony in half, which could harm women raising children."This could hurt women taking care of small children who may not have time to learn a skill and find a job," she said."For a woman who has been a homemaker most of her life and the marriage ends after many years, she may not be able to get a job or training at her age," Sobel said.Sen. Audrey Gibson, D-Jacksonville, said despite supporters' assurances that the bill made the process more fair, it is still more inequitable to the person receiving alimony than the person paying it.The bill is supported by Florida Alimony Reform, an interest group that pushed for the retroactive clause allowing those previously ordered to pay alimony to have payments modified to comply with the new law.Former Senate President Tom Lee, R-Brandon, said there are hardships on both sides of a divorce and not just the one receiving the alimony."Also, 90 percent of divorces are not in court, but settled through marital agreements," Lee said. "No one has a huge leverage on anyone in this bill," he said.Carin Porras, chair of the Family Law Section of the Florida Bar, disagreed and told The Ledger the bill still places a burden on the person receiving alimony. It also arbitrarily cuts payments to 50 percent of the length of the marriage and eliminates a permanent alimony for those who may be older and unable to now support themselves."Sen. Flores' amendments did increase the maximum income limit in the original bill, but it still puts the burden on the person receiving the alimony," Porras said.One of the greatest concerns was not amended, she said: A clause in the bill that mandates 50-50 sharing of custody of minor children except in extreme cases that can be proven, she said.This is required regardless of previous involvement by a parent in the children's lives, she said."Children are the innocent victims in these cases (of divorce)," she said."This bill also allows a person who is ordered by the court to pay alimony and even someone who voluntarily agreed to an amount of alimony to go back and try to change it and that really sets contract law on its head," she said, noting Thompson's argument during debate.The final vote against the bill was not along gender lines, however. The 11 "no" votes included six women and five men.

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